A study by the National Social Norms Resource Center published late last month found that college students are drinking more safely than public perceptions would lead many to believe.
In a study that surveyed over 28,000 students at 44 colleges, researchers found that while up to 80 percent of students drink, fewer than 13 percent have injured property or themselves after drinking.
The study also found that 73 percent of student drinkers take some kind of preventative measure to ensure that they do not become too intoxicated.
Pat Delgado '08, Dartmouth's Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisors program intern, said he believes the study's results are reflected at Dartmouth.
"I do believe Dartmouth students use preventative measures, such as making sure they eat before going out, switching off drinks with water and drinking under four drinks a night, as tactics for smart drinking," Delgado said.
"For many studies, the trends we see nationally often fall in line with what's happening at Dartmouth," Dartmouth alcohol counselor Bryant Ford said.
"I don't think Dartmouth's too far off from what we see nationally."
Ford added, however, that he generally interacts only with those students who have had issues with alcohol and therefore might not have a complete sense of the Dartmouth drinking culture.
Michael Haines, director of the National Social Norms Resource Center, said that the study is significant because it reverses the previously existing sense that student drinking is out of control.
"Even though studies reveal that a clear majority of college students regularly consume alcohol, serious harm is not a frequent occurrence for the majority," Haines said in a press release. "This is the positive outcome of college students' responsible, moderate behavior."
The National Social Norms Resource Center is dedicated to the social norms marketing theory of reducing dangers associated with student drinking, which stems from the assumption that students believe that other students drink more than they actually do.
The theory therefore aims to correct students' miscalculations of their peers' drinking habits in order to decrease consumption.
Delgado says that, through its goal of alcohol education, Dartmouth already incorporates many of the ideas in the study into its alcohol practices.
"This study shines a whole new account on the idea of drinking safely," Delgado said. "I do think it's an idea we've had already, though, the idea of drinking safely rather than eliminating drinking completely."
Ford agreed that the College has been amenable to helping students making the right decision about drinking.
"I think that the Counseling and Human Development department, and the College in general, really tries to give out clear and accurate information about drinking and the consequences if someone's going to drink."
